No recommendations for Covid-19 booster dose by SEC: Report

Covid-19 vaccines in India: Amid growing concerns over the rising cases of Omicron variant in India, the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) under Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) reportedly said that Covid-19 booster doses cannot be recommended without clinical trials. The SEC was reviewing the application of the Serum Institute of India (SII) for the Covid-19 booster dose in a meeting that took place on Friday. Also Read | Of 7 Omicron cases in Pune, 5 tested negative, others stable: Maharashtra Dy CM The panel has sought additional data from the SII and would be doing another meeting. Amid the emergence of the new Covid-19 variant Omicron, the SII had sought approval to administer the booster dose of its Covishield vaccine on the basis of adequate stock of the jab and rising demand for the booster shots. Also Read | Omicron variant: Fully vaccinated person tests positive for Omicron variant in Delhi Prakash Kumar Singh, Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs at SII, had at the time cited that the UK's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has already approved the booster dose of AstraZeneca ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine. "People of our country, as well as citizens of other countries who have already been fully vaccinated with two doses of Covishield, are also continuously requesting our firm for booster dose," Singh had stated in an application submitted before the Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI). Many experts have also recommended a booster dose in India especially after the emergence of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron. But the government has not taken any decision so far. However, the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) also conducted a virtual meeting regarding the additional doses of Covid-19 vaccines in India, but the meeting resulted in no consensus over the issue. -PTC News

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